Atrial Fibrillation Prediction Based on the Rhythm Analysis of Body Surface Potential Mapping Signals

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major public health problem and has become an attractive topic of clinical research. Instead of the invasive of the epicardial mapping and the high cost of interventional catheter mapping, the technique of noninvasive electrical mapping, especially body surface potential mapping (BSPM), has been playing a vital role in the study of AF's activation patterns. The aim of this article was to analyze the rhythm of the BSPM signals (BSPMs), and consequently to evaluate its role in predicting the recurrence of AF. Method: This study included 10 patients with persistent AF. Their preoperative and postoperative BSPM data were gathered. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) was used to do rhythm analysis of these BSPMs and the result was compared with that of artificial counting. Furthermore, we obtained 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) from the BSPMs and discuss the application of these two kinds of ECGs in predicting the recurrence of AF. Results: Patients whose proportion of channels with dominant frequency (DF) > 2.5 Hz in anterior left part greater than the average proportion in all the 128 channels presented a much higher possibility of AF recurrence. Conclusions: FFT is a useful and convenient way to evaluate the rhythm of AF patients' BSPMs, which can take an important role in finding some hypotheses for predicting the recurrence of AF. In this case, BSPM has its advantage over conventional 12-lead ECG.